Race Report: Jingle Bell Run 5k

I had initially planned to race a 3 or 6 miler on Thanksgiving morning, but when it was forecasted for well below zero, and Friday was showing a heat wave, I decided to sleep in and race Friday instead. Great decision. Unfortunately that means I spent $45 on a 5k. I often race half marathons cheaper than that, uff da.

My first race as a 605 Running Club Member!

I had to head downtown really early as race day registration ended an hour and a half before the race actually started. Luckily people were gathering at 605 Running Co. pre-race, so I did some shopping downtown and then headed over there to wait. We snapped a picture in front of the store before we made our way to the 6:30pm start, and after talking to Greg, I decided I'd try to stick with him, because his goal race pace was similar to mine.



The race was an out and back to start along the street that would feature the Parade of Lights as soon as we were done running, so it was packed with "spectators." They weren't there for us, but it definitely felt like it while we were running. The first stretch was a gradual uphill, and I was pretty pleased that my pace was right around 8:40. I was hoping I could run around an 8:30ish for the 5k. I stuck with Greg until our first turn around, and when I thought I could speed up on the gradual downhill, my legs already felt tired. (sidenote: this 5k was the longest run I've done in awhile. Uh...ooops!)

While I felt like I was slowing down, my pace ended up being almost exactly the same. I probably went out too aggressively in the opening uphill mile and paid for it, but that's ok. Run and learn.

Mile 1 8:40

We got a nice boost of cheers each time we passed in front of the running store, and hopefully they snapped some pics of us flying. Once we started heading toward the falls, we lost all spectators but also got to run through the falls all lit up for the holidays.

Mile 2 8:38

Right around 2.3 miles my body was ready to be done. This also coincided nicely with the twisty turny windy bike path that was the most intense uphill of the race. Blah. In the past, this race has been considerably short, (2.8-2.9 miles) so I started doing a countdown to being done. I do this a lot in races because counting takes my mind off the pain, and I like to get to the finish line before I hit zero. Unfortunately they adjusted the race course, so it was actually on this year, so I got down to zero and still had .2 to run. GAH!

Mile 3 9:15

Hah, told you I faded in the third mile. I saw Greg in front of me as I was nearing the 5k so I was able to kick it in a bit for a strong finish.

.1 :48 (8:20 pace, 7:28 max pace)

I finished 3.1 in 27:15 for a pace of 8:49.




The good news is that I didn't have any knee or IT band issues after the race, so I think all of my yoga is helping to stretch and strengthen my issues, and it's no surprise that my endurance has suffered a bit with running taking the backseat to yoga. It was a blast and reminded me how much I love racing, and lining up for races with friends.

Back to it

My legs and mind were ready to run days before my toe would allow.  I was shuffling along in dress shoes with no socks (in 30 degrees some mornings, brr!) because any extra friction on my shoe caused extreme pain.  I had to drain my toe's blisters daily.  Barf.  Finally Thursday I was all set to enjoy our 60 degree Thanksgiving day for a run in the sun.  And then my parents dropped me off at my place and I realized that my cell phone was in the back seat of their car.  Fail.

Instead of getting my nice little spring weather frolic in, I had to jump in my car and chase them down the interstate.  By some grace of God, I managed to see them pull off to get gas about 30 miles south of my city, and could retrieve my phone, instead of following them all the way home-home, only to turn around and drive back.  Once I got back to town, I was so hungry and crabby that a run was the last thing on my mind.

But since I wasn't able to get in a run, I wasn't able to commit to a super fun 5k on Friday night.  A bunch of my runner friends were doing the Jingle Bell 5k, and were dressing up as Santa and his reindeer, decked out in battery pack Christmas lights.  I'm cheap, and just could not justify spending $35 and possibly being injured in a 5k, because I wasn't smart enough to make sure my legs were okay beforehand.

While they were running, I got a nice leisurely 3.5 mile run in and everything seemed ok.

Sunday I got a nice 6 miler in, with what could be one of the last days I can run sans coat.  Judging by everyone else out running, I probably should've been wearing one too, but it was nice in the sun (but I froze in the shade, holy brr!).

My next round of training starts the 2nd week of January, and Shawn had recommended that until I start up, I should really focus on some good base building.  Try to rack up the miles, but to do so at recovery or general aerobic heart rate zones.  He also recommended that I do a max heart rate test so I know my exact zones instead of my rough guestimation.

I created a pre-training program (because that's what all normal people do) based on Pfitz post marathon plan, and then a couple more weeks tacked on, and put it on the fridge on Sunday.  After logging my 6 mile run, I realized that I needed 141.7 miles to hit my goal of 1400 miles for the year.  That averaged out to 28.7/week which seemed.... tough but doable.  So I quickly consulted the fridge to see that from November 28th-December 31st, I have 142 miles planned.

Interesting how things like that work out, eh?  :)